Resources for Supervisors

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7/2/2014 (update) - Check out our series of 13 articles and a variety of useful forms, calendars and planning worksheets. Please fill out and e-mail the included teacher information spreadsheet to religioused@goarch.org so that we can keep your parish's religious education director and teachers up-to-date on new materials and resources.

7/2/2014 (update) - The Department of Religious Education is continually developing new materials to replace older textbooks and fill gaps. Currently, we are working on texts for fourth grade (2015) and fifth grade (2014), while continuing to add to our junior high and high school zines. We realize that many parishes have been using a variety of texts from the DRE as well as those from other sources. These recommendations will help parishes integrate new texts into their existing Church school curricula, use existing materials to their best advantage, and adapt or reorganize if needed. Download the recommendations »

10/2/2012 (update) - A frequent question that the Department receives from teachers and parents is “What should our children know about their faith by the time they are ‘X’ years old?” This question is fueled by a number of influences. First, schools have expectations that their students should reach certain milestones at various stages in their education. Teachers are expected to prepare their students to meet those points in the course of the year, usually because there will be some kind of test. Read more »

10/2/2012 (update) - The Department of Religious Education has been creating a new line of resources for teaching junior high and high school students. Called "zines" (from magazine), each one explores one topic of the Orthodox Christian Faith. Each zine is accompanied by teacher guide containing lesson plans for a comprehensive teaching unit. Read more »

3/14/2011 - A good practice for Directors is to continously work to attract new people to this ministry. Often it will be necessary to utilize additional assistance. There will be those occasions when people are simply prevented from performing their scheduled responsibilities. This may occure with or without ample notification. Directors have a duty to fill these voids immediately or face the consequences of not having lessons taught or tasks fulfilled. Read more »

2/9/2011 - Though it would certainly be difficult to find individuals possessing all the attributes mentioned in this article by Chris Andreas, all are desirable for those wishing to hold the position of director of a Sunday Church School (SCS). Directors are those who must make everything "go," and the programs will be at their best only when the leadership is equal to the tasks. Read more »

9/4/2007 - The Teenage Taskforce on Religious Education, appointed by His Eminence Archbishop Iakovos in December 1987 to address the question, "How can the Church today best meet the needs of her teenagers?" submits the following report with a sense of critical urgency. Read more »

9/4/2007 - The purpose of Orthodox Christian Education (catechesis) is to help build up the Church, the Body of Christ, by nurturing every person in the life of personal communion with the Holy Trinity (theosis), and thus, through this ministry, to bear joyful witness to God’s loving and redeeming work in the world. Read more »

8/16/2007 - An Orthodox vacation "church" school program embraces the teachings and traditions of Orthodox Christianity: Scripture, saints, feasts, worship, music, and prayers. A vacation "Bible" school focuses primarily on stories from the Bible and may or may not incorporate other dimensions of the Orthodox Church. Read more »

8/2/2007 - It’s the middle of the summer. It’s vacation time. Vacation Bible School and Summer Camp are over! While Church and school activities have slowed down considerably, it’s not too early for the Sunday Church School (SCS) Director to start thinking about the next Sunday Church School year. Read more »